11.1.12

LET THE CARPING BEGIN.

I was surprised NIU didn’t crack the top 25 when the final polls were released Tuesday. Of course, we know voters don’t watch many of the games, making results outside the nation’s top 15 teams flimsy – if they have any meaning at all. And the losses to Kansas and Central Michigan dampen the shine beaming from NIU’s accomplishments, notably the nation’s longest win streak and a title in a conference that was 4-1 this bowl season.

But No. 26 NIU was one of 16 teams in the country to win 11 games. None of the other 15 won their final nine games.

If this was a conversation about the nation’s top 20, NIU wouldn’t belong. But you can’t tell me BYU and Cincinnati – two teams that beat nobody, by the way – are better than NIU.

Whatever. Football offers great play value. Monday to Friday, come here to be an Excellent Student and stick around for the steel band or the Avalon Quartet.